Mr. Kayode Fayemi, the executive governor of Ekiti State who assumed office more than one year ago, first made many promises to the people of the state. One of those promises which seems to be more cogent and striking now is the provision of adequate security for the people. To make certain his resolve to ensure that everybody is properly secured in the state, the governor has just established what he termed the Ekiti State Peace Corps.
Inaugurating the corps at the Jibowu Hall, Ado – Ekiti, the state capital recently, Governor Fayemi reiterated his commitment to peace, unity and security in the state. For this reason, he told the people that part of the plan for the establishment of the Peace Corps is to complement the efforts of security agencies in fighting crime. To the governor, for the state to be in secured hands for the yuletide, the level of security in the various communities and at the grassroots, should be topmost in the agenda of the government.
Before the advent of the yuletide, the administration of Fayemi had promised the entire citizens of the state, that their lives and property would be safe for the celebrations. This assurance indeed encouraged more people to travel home to Ekiti for the Christmas and New Year festivities. While constituting the Peace Corps, the governor made it pointedly clear in his new year broadcast to the state that no nation or society can thrive when there is chaos or insecurity of lives and property. And Ekiti is no exception.
He said: “It is common knowledge that a society thrives more and attracts higher economic growth when there is peace.” As people trooped home to savour the peaceful ambience of Ekiti State, they equally saw how the rural areas and communities have been transformed. “I think his commitment to the total transformation of the entire state is genuine and total” was how Emmanuel Akanji, who just returned home from Ivory Coast after three years, put it. “To me, this was the best yuletide celebration in my village in the last twenty years. You could see the old people and retired civil servants, the governor has touched their lives through his many-people and grassroots oriented programmes exhibiting hope and enthusiasm. The joy and peace on people’s faces showed that there is hope, a very big one for that matter, in the horizon for the people of Ekiti State,” Akanji said.
“And more will come,” Ade Babatunde, a young graduate from Oye declared in his assessment of what is in the offing for the people. Even the governor in his New Year message to the state looked into the future and declared that 2013 would be totally dedicated to creating more jobs for the teeming youths. “It is Ekiti’s year of employment and consolidation.” In order to actualize this dream, the governor has proposed the creation of the Ministry of Rural Development and Empowerment. The purpose is to create room for more jobs especially in the local communities and hamlets.
It was in giving acclaim to the many concerted communal provisions by the state government that the Speaker of the State House of Assembly Adewale Omirin publicly declared that the administration of Fayemi has truly delivered the dividends of democracy to the people in the implementation of 2012 budget. This is the sort of declaration that is hard to hear elsewhere in the country where leaders are rather busy pillaging the state coffers and making the citizenry more impoverished day-in-day-out.
Ekiti State was a beehive of activities this past yuletide because this cankerworm called kidnapping was never recorded in the state. It is on record that the state government worked round the clock with all security agencies to ensure that peace was paramount in all the nooks and crannies of the state.
The newly revived Ire Burnt Bricks Factory and the Odua Enterprise Centre which were opened last year, have also offered employment to so many youths. This has not only helped to expand the resources of the state, it has equally helped to control youth restiveness. A lot of youths are fully employed and have been contributing immensely to the revenue base of their families.
By taking factories and industries to nearly every rural place in the state, the governor has smartly succeeded in stemming crime, thereby assuring returnees that the people at home cannot be of any harm to them. When the home front, like it is usually said, is in peace, the whole town can go to sleep with their whole eyes closed. That is Ekiti of today where crime has been reduced to its barest level because the level of transformation is all –encompassing.
The new plan to build more affordable houses for the people is equally warming the hearts of residents. This year, about 5,000 of such houses will be in place, in addition to more that have been constructed. The idea, like the governor has often reiterated is to save residents from the hands of shylock landlords and dubious property developers in the state.
The governor even promised to embark on this massive project through a Public Private Partnership arrangement. Once that is done, more indigent citizens will be offered their own sanctuary, thus reducing the number of people precariously hanging at the mercy of dubious landlords in the society.
Making health one of his priority areas, the governor through the state Health Commissioner, Professor Olusola Fasubaa recently distributed drugs worth over N33.3million to hospitals and health centres across the state. This was done in order to keep the Unified Drugs Resolving Fund Scheme (UDRFS) in the state alive and active. Fasubaa assured the people that the primary concern of the state is to constantly ensure the success of the state’s free health care scheme. All the hospitals renovated previously for this purpose are now in full operation to cater for the sick and the aged.
At the moment, the government has made it clear that the issue of health will remain uppermost in the scheme of things. There are plans to build new general hospitals at Ilawe and Oye, while about 20 old ones will be renovated as soon as possible. In addition, about 35 basic health centres and dispensaries will be upgraded to save human lives.
The governor signed the prohibition of smoking in public places Law 2012 in the state to further consolidate his hold on the health sector. To him, a healthy nation is a wealthy nation. And because many people who smoke in public are either ignorant of the hazards they pose to people or have blatantly refused to come to terms with the danger they constitute to others. Whichever way, the governor says this has to end.
The truth of the matter is that while people travelled for Christmas and the New year, they were confronted by many innovative developments in the state. The Ikogosi Tourist Resort, on its part, served as home away from home to many holiday makers. The governor has even made a promise that with time, Ekiti State will serve as the most attractive holiday destination in Nigeria. Ikogosi has a natural allure and warmth that can never be equaled in Nigeria.
As Ekiti people savour the prospects of 2013, it is proper for the people to catch in on the economic prospects in the state to make the year a glorious one for themselves. Ekiti State is geared towards a new dawn both socially, economically and otherwise. As the governor keeps himself busy with more new projects, it is time to give him the deserved support and encouragement. Together, the whole people can do this.
Debo Olaniyi writes from Oye
This article was first published in The Nation
Last modified: January 10, 2013
